Players of the Week
Player - 3B Mitch Walding, Reading… The 24-year-old Walding batted .440 (11-25) with a double, triple, three home runs, eight RBI, three walks, a stolen base and a 1.420 OPS. He recorded three multi-hit games and extended his hitting streak to 12 games before it ended on July 2. Walding now leads the Eastern League in home runs (20) and ranks third in slugging percentage (.579). He was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the June 2011 draft.
Pitcher - LHP Ranger Suarez, Lakewood… Suarez, 21, tossed 7.2 shutout innings, retiring the first 23 hitters he faced on June 26 and followed that with another 7.0-inning scoreless start on July 2. It was the second time this season he has had back-to-back scoreless starts of at least 7.0 innings. He combined to allow only five baserunners (4 H, BB) in those 14.2 innings, striking out 14 batters. Suarez, who owns a 0.94 ERA (5 ER, 48.0 IP) since May 24, ranks third in the South Atlantic League in ERA (1.59) and WHIP (0.89) and is tied for fourth in strikeouts (90). He was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent on April 1, 2012.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division…52-31, 1^st place… The IronPigs lost three of four games to Pawtucket to end June, and have won two of three games so far against Rochester to begin July. They recorded their 11^th shutout of the season on July 2, most in the International League. The IronPigs also saw a club-record five players named to the triple-A All-Star Game - C Jorge Alfaro, RHP Pedro Beato, OF Dylan Cozens, RHP Tom Eshelman and 1B Rhys Hoskins.
Top hitting performers - 2B Scott Kingery clubbed four home runs during his first week of triple-A games. He leads all minor league players with 22 home runs this season… SS J.P. Crawford walked eight times, posting a .483 on-base percentage while batting .286 (6-21) with a double, two triples and a home run… INF Pedro Florimon had 10 hits in 19 at-bats (.526), doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored two more.
Top pitching performers - RHP Tom Eshelman allowed two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work, striking out seven. He was also named the International League starting pitcher for the triple-A All-Star Game… LHP Brandon Leibrandt made two starts for Lehigh Valley, combining to toss 11.0 innings with three runs allowed and 10 strikeouts… RHP Jesen Therrien allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings over three appearances.
Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division…49-30, 2^nd place… The Fightins played nine games in seven days, going 7-2 to pull within three games of first place. They ended the week with a seven-game winning streak.
Top hitting performers - 3B Mitch Walding batted .440 (11-25) with a double, triple, three home runs, eight RBI, three walks and a stolen base. He was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week… OF Carlos Tocci was 9-for-26 (.346) with a double, triple, home run and five RBI. He is batting .301 this season… OF Zach Coppola batted .345 (10-29) with two doubles, two RBI, three walks, a stolen base and a pair of multi-hit games.
Top pitching performers - RHP Tyler Viza surrendered only one run on two hits, walking one batter while striking out eight in 8.0 innings (his longest outing of the season) on June 29… RHP Shane Watson earned his first save of the season, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings with five strikeouts on June 28.
Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division…5-4, 3^rd place, 43-36 overall… A pair of postponements meant only five games for Clearwater last week, of which they won two. They had four postponed games in June after having just one in the first two months of the season. Clearwater has a 2.89 team ERA this season and is one of just three teams with an ERA under 3.00.
Top hitting performers - OF Cornelius Randolph batted .335 (6-17) with a triple, home run, two walks, a stolen base and two multi-hit games… 1B Wilson Garcia was 7-for-21 (.333) with a triple and an RBI. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games.
Top pitching performers - In his debut with the Threshers, LHP JoJo Romero allowed one unearned run on three hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out 10 batters for the second time in his last three starts… RHP Franklyn Kilome struck out six batters in 6.0 innings during his lone start of the week, allowing one run…. RHP Jose Taveras tossed 6.0 shutout innings on June 27, lowering his ERA to 2.33.
Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League Northern Division…4-7, T-6^th place, 44-37 overall… The BlueClaws went 4-3, splitting a four-game set with Greensboro before going 2-1 against Hagerstown to conclude the week. Lakewood earned its league-best 13^th shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.      
Top hitting performers - 1B Darick Hall batted .333 (8-24) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI and seven runs scored in seven games, while posting a 1.160 OPS. He leads the league with 60 RBI this season… OF David Martinelli slashed .381/.409/.619 in seven games… 2B Daniel Brito led the BlueClaws with 10 hits during the week (10-28, .357), while scoring six runs and driving in four.  
Top pitching performers - LHP Ranger Suarez posted two scoreless outings (14.2 IP), going 2-0 with 14 strikeouts. He surrendered just four hits and one walk and was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week… RHP Mauricio Llovera posted a 2.57 ERA (2 ER, 7.0 IP) with nine strikeouts in two games (one start)… RHP Sixto Sanchez earned the win in his lone start on June 29, surrendering two runs over 5.0 innings, while recording seven strikeouts.       
Williamsport Crosscutters - New York-Penn League Pinckney Division…6-7, 4^h place… The Crosscutters went 5-1 during the week, winning five straight from June 26 to July 1. Williamsport outscored its opponents, 32-18, in those six games.
Top hitting performers - 1B Greg Pickett hit safely in each of his five games, batting .500 (9-18) with five runs and a 1.272 OPS. He has hit safely in 10 of his 11 games this season… OF Adam Haseley batted .364 (4-11) with one double, one RBI, two walks, one run and one stolen base in three games with the Crosscutters. He made his professional debut earlier in the week with the GCL Phillies, batting .583 (7-12) with one double, one triple, four RBI, three runs scored, two walks and one stolen base in three games… 3B Cole Stobbe led the team in home runs (2), RBI (8) and runs (6) last week.
Top pitching performers - RHP Julian Garcia earned the win after tossing 6.0 scoreless innings in his lone start on June 28, while striking out a career-high nine batters… LHP Kyle Young won his second decision of the season on July 1, surrendering just three hits over 5.0 scoreless innings at West Virginia.
Gulf Coast League Phillies - Gulf Coast League Northwest Division…3-3, 3^rd place… The GCL Phillies split each of their three home-and-home series during their first week of play. They have the highest team slugging percentage (.422) in the league thus far.
Top hitting performers - INF Brayan Gonzalez batted .400 (6-15) with one home run, three RBI and three runs in four games. He homered in his professional debut on June 27… OF Simon Muzziotti went 6-for-21 (.286) with a double, triple, three RBI and five runs in five games… INF Zach Green leads the league in home runs (3) and slugging percentage (1.077).
Top pitching performers -RHP Oscar Marcelino went 1-0 in two scoreless relief appearances (5.0 IP). He registered five strikeouts and surrendered one walk and one hit… LHP Anton Kuznetsov tossed 5.2 scoreless innings over two games (one start). He made his professional debut on June 27.